Maybe I am missing something, and for that I apologize, but if this stove cannot be counted on to reliably boil 16 oz. of water, then I'm not going to carry it no matter how small and convenient it is. My primary go to is a Jetboil which is incredibly reliable, but the fuel is expensive and bulkly. A backup stove would also be nice, but I'm having trouble understanding the draw of the Esbit.